The name alone feels like this is everything you need for the chilly, brittle weather ahead, but does it live up to its name?
Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by your fragile moisture barrier.
I mean, we’ve all been there. We get a fancy new acid toner or leave that peel on a little too long and BAM. Moisture barrier is all sorts of effed up. But never fear, for Innisfree has a new cream that will get your skin together.
It’s the Innisfree Derma Formula Skin Barrier Cream Ceramide. And listen. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a cream, and then some.
The formulation
So first things first, let’s talk about what this cream is designed to do. Like the name implies, this cream is formulated to help protect and repair your delicate skin barrier (or the acid mantle if you will). Why is this important? Well, your skin barrier is that very delicate top layer of skin that can get damaged in a variety of ways — using a too-high pH cleanser, using a harsh exfoliant, or doing a strong peel. When your barrier is compromised, your skin can’t protect itself against bacteria, dirt, grime, the sun, and that means that you’re more susceptible to acne, sensitive skin, redness, super oily skin … basically all the things that we definitely do not want. So that’s where this cream comes in.
The experience
The Innisfree Derma Formula Skin Barrier Cream is packaged in a plastic tub with about 50mL of product. It has a very thick yet super silky and creamy texture that sinks into the skin almost immediately. (Check out the texture starting at 0:30 in the video below.) It doesn’t have any cooling properties, but you can almost instantaneously feel how soothing and calming it is. Oh, and for those of you who are sensitive to fragrance or just avoiding it, you’ll be pleased to know that this cream doesn’t have any fragrance.
All that soothing and healing and calming isn’t coming out of nowhere — it’s thanks to a healthy dose of skin barrier strengthening ceramides and lots of green tea extract for some antioxidants. This cream actually has green tea ceramides, which are rich in unsaturated fatty acids like oleic and linoleic acid. These fatty acids mimic the lipids found in your own moisture barrier, so as soon as you spread this across your face, your skin is basically like “girl, we got some extra lipids, let’s repair that barrier, boo!” And it does this without leaving your skin feeling oily or greasy. We love it, OK!
How I use it
So this is my go-to cream any time I use an exfoliating acid — which I do maybe three to four times a week now (see, I’ve learned from my mistakes). I want to make sure that when I do use a chemical exfoliant, I’m not undoing that work by damaging my acid mantle. At night, I’ll remove makeup, wash my face, use an exfoliating toner, then pat on a hydrating toner, then an oil, and last, this cream to seal everything in. When I wake up in the morning, my skin is plump, soft, and ultra-hydrated, just like a baby. Oh, and it works just as well in the AM, too. No worries about it pilling under sunscreen or makeup.
Have you tried the Innisfree Derma Formula Skin Barrier cream? Let me know how you feel in the comments!
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